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Near
Nate River (ネイト・リバー, Neito Ribā ), universally referred to by the mononym Near (ニア, Nia ), is a fictional character who is Light Yagami's antagonist in the manga series Death Note, deuteragonist in the latter part of the anime series of the same name after only the 4-year timeskip and supporting protagonist in the film L: Change the World. Near is the younger of the two successors of L who was investigating both the methods and identity of Kira, the in-universe name given to the mysterious serial killer who murdered criminals by means of the eponymous Death Note. He becomes the leader of the SPK (Special Provision for Kira), an organization that looks into the Kira case and, in the end, succeeds in uncovering Kira's identity. He is voiced by Noriko Hidaka in the Japanese anime, and Cathy Weseluck in the English dub. Character In Death Note, Near is the younger of L's two possible successors raised in Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England. Of the successors, Near is more level-headed, calmly assessing the situation, while the other, Mello, is more emotional and quicker to act. Much like L, Near shows various odd behaviors during his normal life. He is usually seen hunched over rather than sitting. He also constantly plays with various toys, which he uses in his theories, as well as idly twirling or stroking strands of his hair. He shows a great respect for L, basing much of how he solves crime on L's methods, even to the point where he only takes cases that he is interested in rather than trying to pursue justice. The Kira case- as a case L died trying to solve- naturally becomes his first one. Near uses the Wedding text font "N" and "L" to represent himself and the fake L, respectively. In the aftermath, he used Old English MT font "L" like the original L did. Sometime after L's death, he works for the United States under the SPK (Special Provision for Kira) team that is established to investigate Kira without the help of the new "L" Light Yagami. After already catching Light offguard by revealing the fact that he knows the original L is dead and unnerving him by reminding him of his former nemesis when they communicate, he soon manages to deduce that Light, posing as L, is actually Kira. After dismissing the outright capture or killing of Light as disrespectful to L's memory, he finds that Teru Mikami is Kira's proxy. Distracted momentarily by Mello, who kidnaps Kira's TV spokesperson Kiyomi Takada before being killed by her using a Death Note fragment, Near is able to switch Mikami's Death Note with a forged one, allowing him to set up a final confrontation that leaves Light exposed. Near admits that neither he nor Mello could have surpassed L alone, but have managed to do so by working inadvertently together. He rejects all of Light's ideals as a god of the new world who kills for the greater good and refers to the Death Note as "the worst murder weapon in all of history". Ryuk kills Light with his own Death Note soon after as a Death Note owner must eventually be killed by the Shinigami possessing them and with Light in prison he reasons he will be unable to satisfy his interest any further. Near then himself takes L's alias, keeping on the surviving members of the SPK as his subordinates with Roger, the head of Wammy's House, acting as the new Watari. In the epilogue of the manga, he is shown eating a bar of chocolate, as he pursues a new case, possibly in memory of Mello.